Almost there…

A couple of days ago I remembered that I’m a writer. Or at least, I’m supposed to be. I haven’t written a word of fiction in about three weeks. Yeah, with NaNoWriMo and my plan to participate, and I still didn’t manage to get a single word down until a few days ago.

Why?

I was working on something else. On irevuo. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes. Plugins to install, themes to optimize, and stuff like that. I spent a lot of time studying other websites, reading magazines, trying to figure out a layout for our magazine and all that stuff.

But I don’t regret anything. Not at all. Because it’s my dream. And because I owe it to those who contributed to making this dream a reality. Quite frankly, I can’t thank you enough for this opportunity. Because you’ve granted me the chance to change something, or at least try. And that’s worth more than all the money in the world.

Sometimes life feels unfair. And it is. Good and bad feel like abstract notions, vague and absurd, something we can’t quite grasp or analyze or understand. And we feel powerless.

One thing the Internet has changed is that all artists can try to find an audience. All they have to do is set up a website/blog. Amazon’s KDP and Smashwords, etsy, society6, deviantart, all these websites are making it all look simple. You just have to upload some files and hit publish. That’s all it takes.

But it really is as simple as that?

I’m afraid not. 80% of all published books, traditionally or self-published, never sell more than 100 copies. That’s right… some friends, some coworkers, a few relatives, and a couple of strangers if you’re lucky.

There are eight million books on Amazon. Eight million. Self-publishing now, as easy as it seems, means that you’re placing your book on the bottom shelf of the biggest bookstore in the world. Or the top shelf, far from people’s reach.

And then you have to promote, to try to make readers find your book. You have to make them want to read it so bad that they’ll actually pay for it.

The same goes for paintings, sculptures, and basically any kind of art.

And that’s what irevuo wants to change. To give artists a new way of getting noticed, to offer them a new method of reaching an audience. Because whether we like to admit it or not, we all need an audience. Whether a million or just one, we all need to feel that our art matters to someone other than ourselves.

That’s why I stopped writing. I wanted to make irevuo as brilliant a site as possible. And I wanted to explore and analyze all the possibilities, all the opportunities. Because artists deserve it. And I strenuously believe that irevuo can change the world one artist at a time.

But I also have to admit that I might have got carried away by all this. I kind of shamelessly promoted and tried too much to obtain the funding that we need. In a way, I felt frustrated because that was the only thing I could do. It’s a strange thing… if I had the money, I would have financed this project myself. There’s no doubt about it.

And I had to rely on others for help. I had to ask for help, I had to try my best to obtain the money that we needed. And, even though I honestly believed that we wouldn’t get enough people interested in our project, we managed to obtain the money that we needed for the website. We also got a lot of positive response from folks, a lot of people who liked and shared our project.

With 11 days to go, we’re incredibly close to reaching our extended goal and obtain the funding that we need to make irevuo magazine, a quarterly magazine aimed at promoting, reviewing, and interviewing unknown artists. Print and digital, full color, gorgeous layout. Yes, most of the money we need to buy Adobe Digital Publishing, so we can make a really great digital edition of our magazine – the world is slowly turning digital, so there’s no reason not to exploit this avenue.

With 11 days to go, we only need $347. Not from just one person, but from a bunch of folks who are willing to contribute to this project of ours. We’ve got some really cool perks – t-shirts, magazine copies, advertising on our site (or in the magazine). There’s something for everyone.

I believe we can raise the money we need. After all, when the project went live, we raised $250 in the first day. Two more days like that one and we can focus on making irevuo as fantastic as we can. We can start sending out e-mails, asking artists for interviews in the January edition of our magazine.

How could would that be? irevuo magazine… that’s a dream well worth pursuing, regardless of the cost.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who signed up for NaNoWriMo and have only managed about 8,000 words thus far. I'm busy editing and attempting to market a project that's getting ready to launch. Your post here is so spot-on. Thank you!

Me too! I've been writing and writing and writing for all kinds of other purposes, but not for NanoWriMo. But, at its heart, NanoWriMo seems to be about remembering you're a writer, so it's working for me. I am writing.

I think what you are doing is art to. Your creating this wide vast explosion of art in it's self. Your very tallented and I appreciate you looking out for the little guy. Your trying to help everyone not just your self and thats something admirable.. Thank you for your hard work and dedication I hope your Magazine is a true success!

A dream is always worth pursuing if it feeds us in some way by doing so. When it is the dream of others too, then it can become a banquet where everyone participates and everyone is satisfied. Soul food. Best of wishes!

my dream is to be a writer as well. I just wanna write to help x cons or anyone that is or was or wants to get away from the criminal world without becoming somebody they are not. I also would like to be able to pay my bills by doing something I love ..

I think the best thing you can do is stop second guessing yourself and allow your work on the magazine to be the work you did – worthy and sufficient. And also, asking for money is work of a particularly draining kind, no matter how worthy the cause. One starts explaining oneself and justifying every percieved delay, etc – as if everyone is getting skeptical: they're not. You're correct in that you are accomplishing something significant. Are you, like, 22? The truth is, there are very few 22-year-olds in whom people will invest. Have faith in that.

I found that editorial responsibilities always make the shift to writing difficult. My suggestion to fiction writers (I'm a journalist) is to try non-fiction during dry spells. It can just be built into your day. For example, I've started asking every cashier, waitress, and salesperson I meet three personal (not too personal, of course) questions. Eleven times thus far, it's resulted in someone telling me a real, substantial story about themselves that I can easily turn into a series – people's lives just blow me away. I'm not trying to lure you over to the dark side (Shameless Old Media Hacks, Inc.), but it's just that non-fiction provides an immediate structure that keeps you artists writing temporarily – and keeps you guys from freaking out. WE just look for another assignment – but we're not artists. (Well, in your case, though, it would be literary non-fiction, a genre that's been so transformed)

Anyway, I'm laid off and relying on freelance stuff, so I can't afford to contribute. But I can help if you need an old copy editor who can do it in her sleep – I'd be glad to volunteer temporarily.( It doesn;t involve me making any artistic decisions at all ) I've noticed you could use one. Don't worry – everyone needs a copy editor, regardless of good they are. Reporters exchange copy with one another if there are no editors around.

Sorry to hold forth like this. I'm just really rooting for you guys and I'm old. Feel free to ignore me!

I feel your pain. I'm a language guy. I love learning languages. And in the past several weeks I haven't written a new vocabulary card, let alone studied them. The reason why is I am starting up some language education programs here in my city.

I have to balance doing the work myself and offering opportunities to new people to do the same kind of work. I want to take opportunities and give some to others. I need a little of both.

I know how you feel. I STILL haven't written anything for NaNoWriMo — but more important things have come up. But a good hunk of the time I would have spent writing was spent getting my life more in order — the rest was spent helping friends who needed it. Those aren't regrettable things. Here's to writers, to priorities, and to the existence of NaNoWritMo — we've both got ten days left.

I'm a writer and have been in IT hell for months. If I had money I would hire this hat out. I've been in showbusiness for many many years. Writing is a form of that industry. I have to remember that it is show BUSINESS. I love the show, it's the business that I need to embrace until someone embraces my show and manages me. LOL.